


kitten eyes

by maximizingutility



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Druk is a tabby kitten, Established Relationship, M/M, Sokka's plan fails but it's all good, Zuko adopts a cat, and manages to ruin his own birthday surprise, cue nervous rambling on both sides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:21:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27611314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maximizingutility/pseuds/maximizingutility
Summary: Zuko adopts a cat without telling Sokka beforehand. Sokka plans on getting Zuko a cat for his 25th birthday. Cue confusion.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 172





	kitten eyes

It wasn’t Zuko’s fault that he was carrying a new kitten—his kitten—home, without talking to Sokka first. It was the kitten’s fault. Definitely. The little tabby had the audacity to look so forlorn in the shelter window when Zuko walked by on his way home from work, and what was Zuko supposed to do? Let him stay in that cold, decrepit metal cage for another night? 

(Granted, Zuko did take the long way home to stop in front of the shelter window and admire the kittens from afar, but it’s his stress relief and no one can blame him for needing some kitten serotonin.)

And it wasn’t like the adoption papers were that much of a hassle; the shelter manager was already familiar with the raven-haired man who had become a regular “window adopter” as they called him: someone who window shops for animals instead of a new jacket or pair of jeans. So, after signing a few papers, giving the little tabby a name (Druk, of course), and getting a cat carrier, Druk was officially adopted and Zuko was finally a cat dad.  


Which meant Sokka was a cat dad, too.

Sokka. 

The boyfriend who is most definitely a dog person. Who Zuko didn’t talk to at all before bringing a 10-week-old kitten into their (pet-friendly; Zuko checked before signing the lease just in case) apartment. Shit. 

\-----

Sokka had a plan for Zuko’s birthday next week.

It all started when they had to dogsit Appa for a week while Aang and Katara went road tripping and a 200 lb St. Bernard in the back of the car would not be enjoyable for anyone. Between the daily walks, slobber, immense amounts of dog food, and extensive hours spent attempting to wear Appa out before bedtime, Sokka knew that Zuko and dogs were not compatible. 

(When Katara asked if he enjoyed that week, Sokka had to suppress a shudder from the memories of waking up to dog slobber each morning; how does Katara manage that daily?)

Not to mention, if the numerous cat videos that Zuko sent to him or endless slew of facts about how cuddly cats apparently can be are anything to go off of, Sokka knows Zuko is a cat person.

And so, Sokka creates a plan.

To be honest, Sokka knew nothing about cats except that they have 9 lives, and don’t seem to like cucumbers or tin foil; he needed to do some research. 

Theoretically, cat toys should’ve been simple—they’re just tiny little things that cats like to bop around (unless it’s that string and feather contraption that requires human involvement). But, when standing in the cat toy aisle, looking at the different designs, textures, sizes, cat nip potencies, and god knows what other differentiations, Sokka had no clue what to buy. Luckily, the toys were relatively cheap and Zuko will be turning 25 which has gotta be some milestone so why not buy his boyfriend’s future kitten all the available toys? 

(The only downside to this logic was when reality hit and Sokka had to walk home with an overflowing box—a literal box because it would have been too many plastic bags and he stupidly forgot his reusable ones at home—of cat supplies for a future kitten. At least his side of the closet was jam-packed so Zuko wouldn’t notice if a random box with a shirt draped over it suddenly appeared at the bottom.)

At first, Sokka thought he should surprise Zuko with a kitten on his birthday: maybe they’d being eating a late breakfast and Sokka would release the kitten from its temporary hiding place and catch the reaction of his still-sleepy boyfriend with hilarious bedhead. But this proved difficult for multiple reasons, but mostly because where the hell would he safely store a kitten without Zuko discovering it? And when would he even get the kitten—early that morning? the night before? So yes: this plan proved to be too complicated. 

Plan B was to surprise Zuko with a single cat toy (still at breakfast—Zuko in the morning, while still peaceful and dazed from a good night’s sleep was one of Sokka’s favorite things to witness) and then take Zuko to the shelter to choose the perfect kitten for them. All Sokka had to do was choose the perfect cat toy to wrap up. Now this was a bulletproof plan.

Until it wasn’t because someone had to ruin his own birthday surprise.

\-----

The walk from the shelter to their apartment was barely 10 minutes but it was more than enough time for Zuko to second-guess Sokka’s reaction to their new addition. Zuko had brought up cats in enough conversations for Sokka to know that this might be in their future, right? Sokka seemed to enjoy the cat videos Zuko sent and he even started sending Zuko some once his algorithm caught on, which must be a good sign? But what if he’s allergic—Zuko hadn’t even thought to ask? Sokka didn’t have any reaction to Appa but what if Druk was different?

Zuko hadn’t even realized he made it to their building until he almost walked past it. He carefully walking up the stairs, being careful not to jostle Druk (who was definitely not loving his time in the carrier) on the way. When he reached the door, Zuko set the carrier just out of sight in case Sokka was in the living room so he wouldn’t be able to see it through the doorway. 

After taking a moment to catch his breath (and stall just a little longer; his anxiety wasn’t doing too hot), Zuko opened the door. 

“Hey bub, welcome home! How was work?” Sokka called from the kitchen, probably perusing their collection of takeout menus to find a dinner option. 

“Uh, fine! Had too much paperwork to file but it’s done,” Zuko managed to squeeze out as he hesitated at the door, unsure whether to wait for Sokka to come around or bring Druk in himself. He brought the cat carrier in. “I, uh, actually have something to talk to you about.”

“Is everything ok, bub?” Sokka set the menus down and walked to their entryway to greet his boyfriend, “Are you—what is that? Is that a carrier—” 

“Yes, it’s a cat carrier. Because I adopted a cat. I was walking home from work and I went past the shelter and this little guy looked me right in the eyes and I couldn’t say no; I mean look at him,” At this point, Zuko was stress-rambling and trying to pull the zipper down on the cat carrier but it just wouldn’t budge and Druk was stuck and nothing was going right and—

“Wait, I need to go grab something.”

And that was when Zuko was going to say goodbye to his lovely boyfriend and his apartment and everything that he loved; someone might as well start digging his grave because Sokka was probably going to grab a change of clothes and a toothbrush and leave him right then and there.

After a minute of rustling, a crash, a loud “goddammit why do I have so much shit in this closet”, and some variation of a positive exclamation at the end, Sokka returned with a huge cardboard box. Inside was everything from a large cat bed to multicolored catnip mice and all-natural cat treats. Zuko was dumbfounded.

“Are these cat toys, Sokka?” 

Cue Sokka’s turn to nervously ramble: “Um, yes? I just thought that I wanted to get you something special for your birthday next week and you always talk about cats and so l—”

Sokka had no clue where that sentence was going but he didn’t mind when Zuko cut him off with a kiss and whispered, “you are an amazing boyfriend, I love you.”

“I just wanted to do something special for the special person in my life, babe,” Sokka said, only to get a rise out of Zuko (ok, and maybe to get Zuko to blush from his cheeks down to his neck). 

“Oh, shut it. Now do you want to meet Druk or not?”

“Yes! Yes, of course, oh my spirits, he’s been stuck in that carrier for so long,” he made grabby hands at the kitten that Zuko finally had in his arms after managing to coax the zipper to work. Druk immediately curled into Sokka’s chest and began purring; Sokka looked up at Zuko, who was watching the pair with an intense gaze. “Hey, you good, bub?”

“Yeah, I’m amazing. I’m just really really happy,” Zuko shot him his small, just-for-Sokka smile, and led them to the couch. 

They celebrated Zuko’s 25th birthday a week early, complete with takeout ramen, Great British Bake Off episodes, and a sleeping kitten nestled between them. It was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh hello this is my first time writing fanfic in years so don't annihilate me pls :) just another bean who hopped on the zukka train and won't ever be getting off


End file.
